Slums launched in Thane after hi tech survey of Mumbai

Mumbai: For the first time, Maharashtra’s Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) has launched a ‘Door-to-Door Biometric-Enabled Slum Hutment Survey’ in Mumbai and Thane, an official said here on Friday.

“Using GIS map, the survey will compile digital maps of all the slums in the region which will benefit genuine slum dwellers and ensure proper housing for the legal hutment dwellers,” SRA CEO Aseem Gupta said.

As part of the unique initiative, the SRA will issue Smart Cards to all the surveyed structures – starting with the survey taken up in Mogra and Majaswadi areas of Jogeshwari east – in all slums where an estimated 55 percent of Mumbai’s population lives.

The Smart Card will act as a proof of survey as a slum-dweller and his residence, ensure the rehabilitation of the slums and hutments in a systematic manner.

Minister of State for Housing Ravindra Waikar said using the latest Li-DAR, GPS/ETS technologies, the surveyors have started moving around slums of Mogra and Majaswadi armed with a Tablet containing pre-loaded survey forms.

After taking all relevant information about the hutments and the personal details of the dwellers, the GIS map of the location would be creating using satellite imagery, Li-DAR technology and 360-degree panoramic images of the entire slum area.

The tablet will capture and store images of all the documents submitted by each respondent and submit them to the SRA, Waikar added.

The exercise was expected to wean out many illegal slum dwellers besides those from other states or of doubtful nationality who have in the past allegedly derived undeserved benefits at government expense, officials later explained.

The survey will continue for a year to cover all the 1.25 million (12.50 lakh) slum homes in Mumbai and Thane.

After collecting the complete data, the SRA will determine which slums fall on state government lands, central government lands, civic lands or private properties before chalking appropriate rehab schemes, SRA CEO Gupta said.

Online food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy on Monday said it would use privately-run ICICI Bank to allow its delivery fleet to make digital payments.

“Through the use of Unified Payment Interface (UPI)-based solution for instant fund transfers and automated cash deposit machines at ICICI Bank branches and ATMs across the country, the delivery fleet will have a hassle-free way of transferring funds,” the company said in a statement. Swiggy operates with a fleet of over 20,000 delivery persons delivering food from over 25,000 restaurants across 12 cities.

With cash-on-delivery being a widely used method of payment on the platform, the digital payment methods allow the delivery men to quickly transfer the funds to Swiggy, saving their time, according to the statement.

“With the delivery fleet being the backbone of Swiggy, the adoption of the digital payment solutions will support the ease of operations and save their time and thousands of kilometres of travel,” said the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Rahul Bothra in the statement. The digital payment methods will also help in preventing any cash leakages, the company said.

Founded in 2014, Swiggy aims to “change the way India eats” and is currently operational in cities like New Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai among a few others. IANS